


My Brother, My Friend

by leiareyjyn



Series: Rogue One: Encore [3]
Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebellion Era - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, a little flashback moment for the series instead, can still be brotp not otp if you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 07:58:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9225779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leiareyjyn/pseuds/leiareyjyn
Summary: Cassian Andor and Kes Dameron have been friends since the beginning; there for each other through battles, hardships, bad mess hall meals and, lo and behold, even the first flushes of love...Part of the Rogue One: Encore series.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a little piece before Scarif for once, and to be able to showcase a little bit of a friendship pre-Rogue One. We'll go back to the others post-Scarif next time!

Cassian Andor was the first person Kes Dameron met from the Rebel Alliance. Kes had lived a fairly ordinary life, going through all the required rungs of education before leaving early when students - no, friends - started being rounded up by agents of the Empire. Before, it hadn't been his fight. He hadn't wanted it to be his fight. But then his friends, people he loved, professors he respected, started to become afraid to leave their rooms, afraid to talk to anyone. And then his cousin went missing, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

So he started to rally support for the Republic, quietly. Flyering with a hood over his face and a blaster at his hip in case things got nasty. And from there things got bigger, rescuing innocent civilians, children and families in need with other like-minded citizens. Back then the Rebellion had been a word, the title of a group doing much more than he could even fathom.

And then Cassian had found him. They had both been children, barely into their twenties: but Cassian less so. He had been world-weary even then, his hair mussed up and a semi-haunted look in his eyes.

Kes had been sitting on a bench in one of the cities on the planet Angor after a particularly unpleasant attempt by him and his comrades to rescue some orphanage kids taken by the Empire. Only some of them had survived. Kes remembered sitting there that morning, head in his hands, tired from the fight and tired from the suffering. Suffering always looked better on screens than in real life.

"Rough day?" he had heard someone ask.

Kes had looked up to see Cassian for the first time, face dirty and hands covered in bruises and cuts. For some reason, Kes had nodded in reply. And the rest, as they say, was history.

A month later he was running missions for the Rebellion, and though he had always seen less of Cassian that would have liked, they had kept in contact, always sitting together in the mess hall when they were both back from missions. In truth, Kes was always in awe of Cassian, and though he hadn't done too badly himself he was proud to call Cassian - who was slowly becoming a legend in Rebellion espionage circles - his friend.

It was only logical that Cassian had been the first one he had told when he met Shara.

 _Shara Bey, the pilot._  

There was no time for love when you were in the Rebellion. That's not to say some hadn't found it, but every attachment more than friendship could be a liability if you weren't careful. Some people had kids, some got married, some even managed to keep both alive. But then Kes had met Shara and it was like being hit by lightning.

And he had been lucky: Cassian had been back on base when he had got back after meeting her for the first time. He had been familiar with her name, of course. Shara was to piloting what Cassian was to espionage.

"Why didn't you introduce her to me sooner?" he said, striding through as the door to Cassian's quarters slid open.

Cassian looked up from where he was leaning on his bed.

" _Hi Cassian, so glad to see you._ _How was your last mission? Are you alright? Pretty dangerous there on Coruscant - have you had a rest?_ " the Captain mock muttered.

"Shara Bey," said Kes, standing in front of his friend.

"The answers to those questions would be _good_ , _yes,_ and _I was just about to before some Rebellion punk decided to stride into my quarters._ Sound familiar?"

Kes grinned.

"I'm sorry," he said. "You know I care, I've just -"

"Yeah, I know. You've met a girl. I can tell by that stupid grin on your face. Shara's out of your league, mate."

Kes' face fell from one of excitement to one of doubt.

"Really?" he said.

Cassian laughed.

"I'm not the one to say," he said. "Shara can make up her own mind. God forbid I ever get into an argument with her."

"I'm thinking that maybe I'll ask her to... to mess hall with me."

"Good idea," said Cassian. "Make it public so that she can't be too vicious when she decides to reject you."

Kes sat down on the bed next to Cassian.

"In all seriousness, though," he said, his voice no longer jovial. "Do I have a chance?"

Cassian took a deep breath, and put a hand on Kes' shoulder.

"Yes," he said. "You're a good man, one of the best I know, and a damn better man than I am. Far be it from me to say this, but just be yourself. Let it fall into place."

Kes smirked.

"Aww, don't make me blush, Cas."

Cassian laughed.

"I'll put in some good words for you as well, how about that?"

So one marriage later - with Cassian as best man, of course - Kes had never been happier. The struggle was still hard as the Empire continued to loom heavy, but he and Shara took pleasure in the quiet moments, the hours snatched together in between missions.

And that was why Kes recognised _that look_ in Cassian's eyes from all the way across the hangar. People were bustling left and right, buzzing from the latest meeting with the Rebel Leadership. One word flew around the hangar.  
  
Scarif. Scarif. Scarif...

But in that moment he saw Cassian's face, and the smile the captain tried to hide as he said a couple of words to Galen Erso's daughter. Then - there it was. _That stupid grin._

"Kes!" he heard someone calling out. "Kes, you're needed!"

Then he tucked the thought in the back of his mind as he hurried away, knowing that he'd have plenty to talk about with his friend later.

 

* * *

 

Kes sat in his quarters after the Battle of Scarif, glad to finally have some time to himself after being called for around the clock. Then tomorrow Shara would be home, and finally they'd get some time to themselves that would actually be longer than an hour or two.

He lay back on his pillow and had just shut his eyes when he heard the door to his quarters slide open. He knew who it would be before he even had to take a breath.

"Have you met her yet?" said the voice. "Jyn Erso?"

Kes smirked.

Oh, how the tables had turned.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll see if I can work it in! I hope you enjoyed this :)


End file.
